Author: alanjjohnstone
The Only Means Necessary
Many revolutionary groups and tendencies are convinced that any overthrow of capitalism will involve war. This is usually based on the premise that the ruling class will violently oppose any attempts to usurp it and therefore must be defeated militarily. Also personal acts of resistance are advocated, up to and including deadly force. “By any means…
The WSM and Unions
The following articles are examples of the World Socialist Movement’s longstanding commitment to class struggle politics both in the workplace and on the political field. From the June 1947 issue of the Western Socialist What should be the attitude of socialists toward trade unions? This not a mere academic question. There are well-informed Marxists who…
Leadership test
From Red Menace, a Toronto-based libertarian socialist magazine published in the 1970s. PART ONE: Would you make a good Leader? 1. When I talk, people(a) listen(b) leave the room(c) inspect their fingernails(d) gaze at the ceiling(e) I never talk(f) I only talk to myself 2. My comrades are always telling me that I(a) am intellectually advanced(b) am ideologically…
Sam Orner: A Witness At Ludlow
In The Western Socialist, 1965, there appeared an article entitled, The Ludlow Massacre that happened in 1913. The Ludlow article resulted in a response from a member of the then named Workers’ Socialist Party of the United States who had witnessed to some of the events when he was a soap-box orator for the Industrial Workers of the World at the time. The Socialist Party journal shortly after the massacre…
The ethical work of Karl Marx
Written by Maximilien Rubel in 1982 for the Socialist Party of Great Britain’s journal, Socialist Standard, but not published. [The ethical work of Karl Marx by Maximilien Rubel 1982 (marxists.org)] 1. If ethics is taken to be, on the one hand, the negation of bourgeois ideology and morality and, on the other, as the intellectual and practical anticipation…
A Slight Christmas Carol
A Short Story from the December 1954 issue of the Socialist Standard Scrooge buttoned his overcoat and picked up his Chronicle, said goodnight to the office and left. This was not the Ebenezer Scrooge who said “ Humbug ” and disliked Christmas but later had a change of heart and died in the workhouse through giving all his money away:…
Rusia nunca fue Socialista
En este año se cumple el centenario de la Revolución Rusa el cual se enfocara en la toma del poder por los Bolcheviques en el mes de Noviembre del 1917. La histórica rivalidad entre las potencias Occidentales y el primer tal llamado estado “Comunista” ha sido presentado como una lucha entre la ‘Democracia Liberal’ de…
Inside Canada’s political parties: The Socialist Party of Canada
Some believe that the climate and pandemic crises has drawn many people to look for an alternative: Socialism. The Socialist Party of Canada wants to define what socialism really means. ’At several demonstrations in Toronto, this journalist has come across a lot of members of the Socialist and Communist Parties of Canada. The representatives hand out information…
What Marx Should Have Said To Kropotkin
The following is the transcript of a talk given by Adam Buick. I once read a book which contained a sentence which began “As Marx said to Lenin…” This would not have been a physical impossibility, as Marx’s life and Lenin’s life did overlap for 13 years. But quite why – and how – Marx would have…
Blood for Blood says General Ludd
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood,His feats I but little admire,I will sing the Achievements of General LuddNow the Hero of NottinghamshireBrave Ludd was to measures of violence unusedTill his sufferings became so severeThat at last to defend his own Interest he rous’dAnd for the great work did prepare. Ned Ludd,…